December 31, 2013
Anti-Gay Mass. Activist Warns Against Repealing Jamaica's 'Buggery Law'
Winnie McCroy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
An anti-gay Massachusetts activist traveled to Jamaica this month to speak against the repeal of the island's sodomy prevision, saying it would lead to rampant sexually transmitted diseases.
According to a recent article in Buzzfeed, Brian Camenker of MassResistance -- considered a hate group by the watchdog organization Southern Poverty Law Center -- delivered a Dec. 10 keynote address at Kingston's Jamaican Coalition for a Health Society event in which he warned that the repeal of the island's "buggery law" would lead to the "indoctrination" of children and the curbing of individual freedom of speech.
"I am here to warn you that [repeal of the buggery law] will have terrible consequences," Camenker said, according to a video of the event uploaded by MassResistance on Saturday. "A law that contradicts God's law is the beginning of a slippery slope that you cannot imagine."
Camenker denounced the ban against the "reparative therapy" efforts that physicians now agree are useless, saying that they deny children who are "sexually molested early on and as a result have homosexual or cross-dressing feelings" may "want help and counseling to deal with those issues. The radical homosexual movement will have none of that."
In the light of extreme instances of anti-gay violence in Jamaica, Camenker alleged that while, "You'll hear a lot of talk about violence against gays; what they don't tell you is that it's predominantly from other gays."
Camenker's visit to Jamaica followed a Dec. 7 appearance by the anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera, who argued that homosexuality was a choice, and was linked to pedophilia. Similar strategies have been adopted by anti-gay activist Scott Lively, who recently announced a run for governor of Massachusetts. Lively, who is currently fighting a lawsuit that alleges he persecuted gays in Uganda, recently lauded Russian President Vladimir Putin's "anti-gay propaganda" law, saying he believes he helped influence the legislation.
Winnie McCroy is the Women on the EDGE Editor, HIV/Health Editor, and Assistant Entertainment Editor for EDGE Media Network, handling all women's news, HIV health stories and theater reviews throughout the U.S. She has contributed to other publications, including The Village Voice, Gay City News, Chelsea Now and The Advocate, and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
